One of the reasons given for transferring convicted murderer Logan Jackson to the UK is that he could not continue to serve out a life sentence in any Irish prison due to fears he would be harmed or killed in custody.
A statement from the Department of Justice said that one of the reasons for the transfer was that the prisoner could not be detained in any jail in the Republic due to fears for his safety - as well as the safety of members of the Irish Prison Service.
Jackson murdered five-time national boxing champion Kevin Sheehy (20), by repeatedly ramming the sportsman with an SUV as he walked along Hyde Rd, Limerick City, on July 1st, 2019.
Gardaí suspect others assisted Jackson on the night of the murder. A Garda spokeswoman confirmed “this investigation remains active and ongoing”.
Coventry-born Jackson was transferred from Limerick Prison to a jail in England on March 13th this year.
The transfer was granted by the Minister for Justice Simon Harris, despite repeated protests from the victim’s family.
The Department of Justice stated that in considering Jackson’s transfer request, Mr Harris was required by law to consider a number of factors “including that Mr Jackson has been on 23-hour lock-down for the three years he has been in custody due to very significant security risks”.
“These risks constituted a threat to the staff and prisoners at Limerick Prison, as well as Mr Jackson,” it said.
The Department also said that “as part of the considerations of Mr Jackson’s application, a wider security assessment was also carried out and indicated that these risks would persist in any Irish prison”.
Commenting on the Department's statement, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) a spokeswoman said it “does not comment on individual prisoner cases”.
Jackson applied to be transferred out of Limerick Prison on January 13th, 2022, just 23 days after he was given a life sentence for Sheehy’s murder, under rights set down by the Council of Europe Convention on the transfer of prisoners and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Tracey Tully, mother of murdered Limerick boxer, Kevin Sheehy, maintains Logan Jackson should serve his sentence in Ireland.
She said: “Logan Jackson took my son’s human rights monstrously - so if we are talking about human rights, I want to know about Kevin’s human rights, my human rights, Kevin’s daughter’s human rights.”
A spokesman for Minister Harris said he “will be responding to” Ms Tully about her continued concerns.
He said that “to further strengthen the rights of victims, Minster Harris recently received Government approval to change the law to make it a statutory requirement to notify victims registered with the Irish Prison Service that an application for transfer outside the State has been made by a prisoner serving a sentence here, and providing victims with an opportunity to make a submission in relation to the application”.
“This has recently been approved by the Oireachtas and is expected to become law very shortly.”
